Metro

A couple of months ago, Allegheny Township Assistant Police Chief Paul Mummert investigated a crash on southbound Plank Road caused by a man who was looking at his cellphone, and who thus failed to brake for a car stopped in front of him for the light at Convention Center Boulevard.

The man was going between 40 and 50 mph, and he or the occupant of the other vehicle could easily have been killed, although there were no serious injuries because everyone was wearing seat belts, said Mummert, one of several law enforcement representatives at a PennDOT news conference Wednesday called to remind area residents that what that driver did on Plank Road was not only dangerous — but as of today, illegal.

Signed a year ago by Gov. Josh Shapiro, Senate Bill 37 — “Paul Miller’s Law,” after a man killed in a crash caused by a cellphone-distracted truck driver in 2010 — prohibits using a hand-held cellphone while driving, even when stopped at a red light or a stop sign or in traffic, although there is an exception for emergency assistance calls.

The law extends a previously existing prohibition against texting while driving to include holding a cellphone or supporting it with any part of the body, or dialing or answering a phone by more than the press of a single button or reaching for a phone in a way that takes a driver out of a seated position — properly restrained by a seat belt, according to information provided at the news conference.

Police plan to enforce the new prohibition, although for the next year, that will be done only through warnings — after which there will be citations, officials said.

Distracted driving has overtaken drunk driving as the No. 1 cause of crashes in Pennsylvania, as of 2023, with 11,200 that year, compared to 8,300 for drunk driving, according to Mummert.

It’s not hard to see distracted driving in action, according to Altoona police Sgt. Patrick Tomassetti, explaining that he witnessed several drivers on their phones on his way to the news conference Wednesday.

A fender-bender crash in front of the PennDOT building just before the news conference started may have been caused by distracted driving, someone at the event said.

Unlike failure to wear a seat belt — which is a secondary violation for adult vehicle occupants — using a cellphone while driving is now a primary violation, which means it can be the sole reason for a traffic stop, according to Tomassetti and online information.

Police will be actively enforcing the new law, according to officers at the event.

The law is needed, especially in his area, said North Woodbury Township Police Chief Lance Morris.

A vehicle traveling 60 mph goes the length of a football field in less than 3.5 seconds, Morris said.

In North Woodbury, there are many Mennonites traveling in horse-drawn buggies or on bicycles, and distracted drivers can overtake them with fatal consequences very quickly, Morris said.

“We worry about (their) safety,” he said.

Hands-free technology is permitted under the new law, according to information provided online by Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 814-949-7038.